The government has announced a 6.2% increase in the National Living Wage (NLW), which applies to workers aged 25 and over. From 1 April 2020 the NLW will rise from the current rate of £8.21 to £8.72 an hour, in the largest raise since it was introduced two decades ago. The government has confirmed that… Read more…

Chancellor Sajid Javid has announced that he will deliver the 2020 Budget on Wednesday 11 March 2020. The 2020 Budget will be the first to be delivered after the UK’s scheduled departure from the EU on 31 January 2020. It is also Mr Javid’s first Budget as Chancellor, following the cancellation of last November’s planned… Read more…

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed that UK businesses spent £25 billion on Research and Development (R&D) in 2018. Data from the ONS showed that total R&D expenditure increased from £23.7 billion in 2017 to £25 billion in 2018.     The report showed: the aerospace industry saw the largest increase in R&D… Read more…

HMRC has issued the latest Employer Bulletin. This issue includes articles on a number of areas including:         guidance for employers on reporting PAYE information in real time when payments are made early at Christmas electronic payment deadline falls on a weekend Ultra Low Emission Vehicle High Income Child Benefit Charge deadline… Read more…

HMRC has published guidance for people who hold cryptoassets, typically cryptocurrency or Bitcoin, explaining what taxes they may need to pay and what records they need to keep. HMRC has also published further information for businesses and companies about the tax treatment of cryptoasset transactions. HMRC advises that these papers set out HMRC’s view of… Read more…

In a letter in November 2019, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock, has agreed to a temporary commitment to make payments to certain clinical staff outside of the NHS pension schemes to restore the value of their pension benefits package. These rules apply if they have elected to use the… Read more…

HMRC has issued an update to the Check employment status tool (CEST) in advance of the introduction of new tax rules proposed for individuals who provide their personal services via an ‘intermediary’ to a medium or large business. The tool is designed to give HMRC’s view of the status of contracts and has received criticism.… Read more…

HMRC is giving information to taxpayers to help them avoid scams ahead of the Self Assessment deadline. HMRC is warning millions of Self Assessment taxpayers to be aware of fraudsters in the run up to the 31 January deadline. Over the last year, HMRC received almost 900,000 reports from the taxpayers about suspicious HMRC contact,… Read more…

New company car advisory fuel rates have been published which took effect from 1 December 2019. The guidance states: ‘You can use the previous rates for up to one month from the date the new rates apply’. The rates only apply to employees using a company car. The advisory fuel rates for journeys undertaken on or… Read more…

Some employers may wish to give a small gift to their employees. As long as the employer meets the relevant conditions, no tax charge will arise on the employee. A tax exemption is available which should help employers ensure that the benefits provided are exempt and do not result in a reportable employee benefit in… Read more…